SCM is most important, and most often neglected, during V&V activities, which include software testing. It is employed in tracking which module versions are included in a particular system build, as well as which tests have been run. The results of the tests are tied directly to the modules or subcomponents being tested. Many times there are "action items" resulting from the tests. SCM tracks the action item status, so overall system status can be assessed well before final builds and releases are done.
Verification and validation testing are supported through the four basic SCM processes: identification, control, auditing, and status accounting. Let's look at examples of V&V testing in the context of each of these components.
SCM Identification Benefits to V&V
Automatic preparation of release notes
List of changed software modules
Definition of development baseline
Generation of incident reports
Definition of operational baseline
Control of the configuration item identification
Management of CCB meetings
Prioritization of test and incident issues
Establishment of turnover dates
Approval of audit and test reports
Approval of incident report resolutions
SCM Auditing Benefits to V&V
Comparison of new baseline to previous baseline
Assurance that standards have been met
Audit trail of the testing process (verification, validation, and acceptance) of the software system
Documentation of experience with technical aspects of system engineering or software engineering
SCM Status Accounting Benefits to V&V
Logging and tracking of incident reports
Publication of CCB minutes
With all of these potential benefits of SCM, project managers must address real-world considerations. Management commitment is the real key to implementing SCM on a specific project in a given organization. By treating the implementation of SCM as a project, the project plan must start at the top to secure commitment to checks and balances. Now is the time to bring out the organization's list of project disasters to draw on management experience with their previous software project difficulties. If there are no historic disasters in the organization, or if it is inappropriate to discuss them, refer to literature articles that provide accounts of project disasters (refer to the Web resources at the end of this chapter). Finally, after putting a notional return-on-investment financial argument in place, explain the intangible benefits of SCM.
One of the major sources intangible benefits is auditing. Auditing can be a heavy consumer of configuration management resources, and management may question the benefit of this kind of expenditure. Auditing pays for itself through the avoidance of larger, unnecessary expenses. Savings of 100:1 (large projects) or 4–6:1 (small projects) are obtained by finding and fixing problems early in the life cycle. The auditing process in SCM uncovers the areas where a little more effort or control will result in higher-quality software products and lower overall project costs.
There can be audit compromises to reduce costs. As a project manager, plan audits based on both the phases of the life cycle and the frequency of builds, versions, releases, and product families. Auditing each baseline in a project while reducing the depth of each audit maintains some traceability with loss of visibility.
Eliminating one or more audits (installation baseline, for example) maintains visibility but slightly impacts traceability.
